Phong Dinh (Rosemead, CA)

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ps99472

ps99472

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Had the chance to dine here for lunch today, not usually a fan of Vietnamese cuisine, but this place might change my mind.  Restaurant is a bit ghetto but typical of other asian restaurants in the area.  They sell Lotto tickets.. and have some sort of keno lotto thing going.. gotta cater towards the asian gamblers...  So the big draw here is their baked catfish.  Takes half hour so plan ahead.  Surprisingly the fish was not muddy tasting at all.  I don't like catfish, and this was the best tasting one I had.  The lobster was pretty good as well, of course deep dried and buttered can't really turn out bad.  If you want crispy catfish go to Favori, but if you want a great tasting catfish while gambling away your money, try Phong Dinh.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/phong-dinh-restaurant-rosemead

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Baked Catfish

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Cha Gio

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Fried butter lobster

Of course I wonder if they actually eat lobster this way in Vietnam... maybe due to French influence?
 
During the late 70's and 80's  Viet refugees were not allowed to come ashore in Hong Kong. These refugees were not only trapped on boats but they were there for a long time. In HK "Tang" decedents for generations lived on sampans and similarly were not allowed on land except for a couple of hours to conduct business. Frying seafood known as the Aberdeen style
http://www.bionicbites.com/2009/10/late-night-eats-at-aberdeen-seafood-hong-kong/

is ideal for preparing food in a limited space on a boat. High heat frying with heavy spice kills most bacterias from unsanitary condition as well as mask some spoiled food due to the lack of refrigeration.

The Vietnamese seafood cooking was inspired by the Aberdeen style. Both SGV and Rowland Hts you can find Chinese/Vietnamese seafood restaurant with this specialty.
 
I would never though that.. hot frying oil pot on a rocking boat.. hmmm, not the safest way..  I thought I heard the owner speak Chinese to another table but with a very heavy viet accent...  so maybe they're chinese/vietnamese? 
 
The Vietnamese baked catfish dish is called Ca Nuong.  There are several Vietnamese restaurants in Westminster area that specialize in this dish on Westminster Blvd.  Quan Ca My Van, Nam Giao, Ca Nuong My Van, Quan Hen, etc.
 
homer_simpson said:
Favori on harbor and first is good too.
Click to expand...

That's where we originally planned to go, instead ended up at Phong Dinh due to one party's request.  There was sadness at the table when the fish arrived and it was not "crispy" like Favori's version.  But I ended up liking it more due to it not tasting like mud. 
 
I grew up eating Vietnamese food do I can't taste the muddiness loll.  Thr other place on Euclid and Warner is good too.
 
Catfish can have muddy flavor from poor water quality and cyanobacteria (algae).  Asians tend to cook the fish whole, so you couldn't remove some undesirable parts by cutting fillets.  The Arkansas Game and Fish commission recommends soaking the fish in a solution of 1 gallon cold water : 2 tbsp salt : 2 tbsp baking soda, cover & refrigerate overnight, then rinse in cold water the next day before cooking.

Asian supermarkets have live tanks, partly because they want the fish in clean water for few days before being sold for dinner.  The fish from fish farms tend to have muddy taste due to poor water quality.  For wild caught fish, generally speaking they're less muddy in winter/cold season.  But the problem is that around here, most of the trout are farm raised and stocked to local lakes, so you can't get away from the "fish farm pond water flavor".
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/
 
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